Apparatus for handling material



ful as applied to heat-treating furnaces,

Patented May 23, 193.33v

PATENT-3 err-Ion HARRY F. VICKERS', F DETROIT, MIGHIGAN .errmarus non HANDLING MATERIAL,

#ppllcation filed October 5,

This invention has to do with material handling apparatus, and has particular reference to a structure for handling articles or units of material,'it being a general object 5 of the invention to provide a structure for receiving articles or units. of material and delivering them at a definite point in a predetermined position.

The present invention is particularly used:

material or articles are discharged from a heated zone into a quenching bath. The present invention is a division of my co-pending application entitled Material-handling apparatus, Serial Number 454,316, filed May 21, 1930.

In accordance with certain heat-treating processes, the material or articles being treated are subject'to the desired heat for the desired length of time and are then quickly cooled, as by quenching in suitable liquid. In automatic heat-treating apparatus, for instance, in heat-treating furnaces such as are the subject of the above-mentioned cothe like, where pending application, the articles or units of' material are fed through the furnace or through the heating zone and are automatically discharged or dropped to fall into the quenching fluid.

It is important that the material be quenched rapidly, it being preferred to cool it at all points or parts simultaneously. With the apparatus heretofore available, great difliculty has been experienced in prop- 5 erly quenching materials or articles that are comparativelylong, particularly if they are unbalanced or irregu ar in shape. Materials or articles of the typejust mentioned tend to tilt or assume oblique positions when fall- 0 ing or discharging from the heat zone of a furnace into a quenching bath, this being particularly true when the pieces of material or articles are not symmetrical or of uniform mass throughout their length.

Itis a general object of the present invention to provide a structure for handling articles or units of material in their passage from the heated chamber of a furnace, or the like, to a quenching bath, or the like, so that they enter the quenching bath in a pre- 1931. Serial No. 566,975.

determined position, this being generally true regardless of whether or not they are uniform in size and shape or are symmetrical, and regardless of whether or not they are discharged from the heating chamber in a definite position.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a structure of the character men tioned which is of extremely simple, inexpensive construction and which is free of 0p 66 crating or moving parts subjected to wear or failure.

It is another object of the present invem tion to provide a structure of the character mentioned that is entirely automatic in operation and functions efliciently and dependably without attention.

The various objects and features of my invention will be best and more fully understood from the following detailed descrip- 70 tion of a typical form and application of the invention, throughout which description reference will be had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal detailed sectional view of a typical type of heat-treating furnace embodying the structure of the present invention, the section being taken to show apparatus operable to feed objects through the furnace'and discharge them into the dese livery structure embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a detailed transverse sectional view taken through the structure of the present invention, being a view taken as indicated by line 2-2 on Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a detailed transverse sectional view of the urnace taken as indicated by line 3-3 on The furnace illustrated in the drawing is of a more or less common form and construc- 9 tion in that it is a horizontal furnace including a bottom or base 10, sides 11, a top 12, a front end 13, and a rear end 14. The parts i just referred to form a horizontal chamber 15 for carrying heating elements 16, or the like. The front end' 13 of the furnace is provided with a suitable shielded opening 17 through which objects to be heat-treated are introduced into the chamber 15. The rear end 14 is provided with a discharge or de- 1 livery chute 18 embodying the present invention through which the objects being heated are discharged from the furnace into a quenching tank 19, or the like. The particular furnace illustrated and the form of the present invention illustrated are designed to andle bars, lengths of shafting, and elongated articles of various sizes and proportions.

The structure which is the subject of my above-mentioned copending application, and which operates to handle the objects in the furnace includes, generally, a stationary rack 20 for supporting the objects when they are not in motion, a movable rack 21 for advancing or moving the objects, means 22 supporting the movable rack 21 for vertical movement, means 23 for operating the movable rack 21 vertically through the means 22, means 24 for operating the movable rack horizontally, and various other parts and elements, such as a control for the means 23 and 24 with which the present invention is not -directly concerned and which have been omitted from the drawing. It is to be understood, of course, that the furnace in general may be provided with various attachments or units of equipment commonly employed in structures of this kind and that the present invention, being concerned primarily with the chute 18, is not to be construed as limited to other details or features such as have been referred to or which may be illustrated in the drawing. For example, it will be obvious that the present invention is in no way limited to use in combination with the particular material handling or feeding apparatus which is the subject of the said co-pending application and which has been referred to generally in this application.

In the operation of the structure hereinabove referred to generally, the articles to be treated are placed upon the stationary rack 20 outside of the chamber 15. The means 23 and 241 are operated or cont-rolled so that the movable rack 21 moves vertically to lift the articles from the stationary rack, then horizontally to advance the articles in the direction of the chute 18, then vertically downward to return the articles to the stationary rack, and then horizontally back to the original or starting position. This cycle or mode of operation is repeated, causing the articles to be advanced step by step through the chamber 15 of the furnace and finally discharged into the upper end of the delivers them to the quenching tank 19.

The chute 18 provided by the present invention receives the articles from the chamber 15 and is designed so that the articles fall by gravity from the chamber 15 into the quenching tank 19. The chute functions to deliver or drop the articles into the quenching tank in a predetermined position so that they enter thequenching liquid L in a manner to sages, particularly the passage 11,

chute 18 which b be efiectively and uniformly quenched regardless of whether they are delivered into the chute in a definite positibn, and regardless of whether they are symmetrical or balanced.

The chute 18 of the present invention includes, generally, an upper or receiving passage 40, a lower or discharge passage 41, and an intermediate or connecting passage 42 angularly related to the other pasto interrupt the passage or fall of articles through the chute to right them and to deliver them to the passage l1 so that they enter the liquid L in the desired manner. In the form of the invention illustrated, the chute includes only the three portions mentioned, and the upper and lower portions lQand 41 are angularly disposed or inclined, being sutficiently steep or near a vertical position sothat the articles have a rapid drop or fall through the chute. Tn the preferred design of the chute, the upper and lower passages 40 and 41 are not in line, but are ofiset to be in different inclined planes, which planes may be substantially parallel, as illustrated in the drawing. The connecting passage 42 connects the lower end of the receiving or upper passage 40 with the upper end of the discharge or lower passage 41. The length of the connecting passage 42 depends upon the amount the passages 40 and 41 are ofi'set from each other, the offsetting being at least such as to prevent articles from passing or dropping from the upper passage it) to the lower passage 41 without engaging either of the walls of the connecting passage. In the particular construction lllustrated, the connecting passage 42 extends in a direction at about right angles to the upper and lower passages and is comparatively short, being just suliiciently long to properly check the drop or passage of articles so that they are properly positioned after they fall through the passage 41 and into the liquid L. The connecting passage is inclined or pitched enough so that articles slide or roll from it into the passage 41. When cylindrical articles are being handled, they roll throughthe connecting passage and are thus given a rotary motion or spin which continues as the articles are quenched and is effective in preventing distortion. If it is necessary to make the chute 18 of considerable length, it is preferred that the major portion of the length be in the passage 40 and that the passage 41 e made comparatively short so that articles righted or corrected as to position by the connecting passage 42 do not get out of position in falling through the passage 41.

The chute 18 is, of course, made of such size and dimensions as to properly accommodate material or articles to be handled. F or instance, the distance between the end walls 50 of the chute is somewhat greater than the length of the articles to be handled,

walls 51 of the chute is substantially greater than the maximum diameter or lateral dimension of the articles to be handled. It is to be" understood, of course, that the chute need not be of uniform dimensions throughout its length. For instance, the various passages may vary in spacing of the walls 51 or the spacing of the walls 50, it being preferred, however, to make the parts of thechute substantially uniform in size, as shown throughout the drawing.

In the preferred walls of the chute are provided with a lining 60 of suitable material, say, for instance, of metal. In the form of the invention illustrated, the lower passage 41, the connecting passage 42, and the lower portion of the upper passage 40 are provided with a metal lining 60. The remaining portion or upper part of the passage 40 may be unlined and formed of or faced with the material em ployed throughout the walls of the furnace for instance, fire brick, or the like.

Y The present invention provides a trap that prevents flow upwardly in the chute, and the trap may be formed by a curtain 80 pivotally mounted to hang across the connecting passage so that it allows free passage downwardly through the chute and checks circulation or flow upwardly through the chute. The trap may be formed of any suitable material and is preferably mounted to close the lower or discharge end of the connecting passage where it will aid the chute in righting the position of articles passing through the chute.

The quenching tank 19 is located so that the liquid L carried by it is in position to receive and quench the articles delivered by the chute 18.- In the form of the invention illustrated, the tank 19 surrounds the lower or discharge end of the chute 18 so that the surface or level of the liquid L may be above the lower end of the chute, thus sealing the end of the .chute. The tank 19 is shown equipped with a conveyor designed to receive the articles delivered into the liquid L by the chute 18 and convey them from the tank.

From the foregoing description, it isbelieved that the invention will be fully un-' derstood, it being obvious that articles, such, for example, as bars, lengths ofshafting, whether provided with flanges, couplings, or

,the like, or not, delivered into the upper end of the passage 40 by the mechanismof the furnace .fall through the passage 41- to be discharged into the connecting passage ,42. The articles may not be horizontally disposed when discharged into the passage 40, and may not be horizontally disposed when discharged from the passage 40 into the connecting passage 42; however, it is obvious that the passage 42 acts to right or correct form of the invention, the

the position of the articles so that they discharge into the upper end of the passage 41 in a substantially true horizontal position. The passage 41, being comparatively short, the articles corrected as to their. position by the passage 42 enter and pass through the passage 41-to enter the liquid L in a substantially true horizontal position.

Having described only a typical preferred form of my invention, I do not wish to limit myself to the specific details set forth, but wish to reserve to myself any changes or variations that may appear to those skilled in the art. or fall within the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A structure of the character described including, a chute having a passage of horizontally elongated cross section through which elongate objects are adapted to fall when substantially horizontal and disposed longitudinally with respect to the horizontal elongation of the passage, anda second passage communicating with the lower end of the first mentioned passage and inclined downwardly to have a wall opposing the first mentioned passage whereby the second passage is operable to maintain the objects substantially horizontal as they pass through it.

2. A structure of the character described including, a chute having an inclined passage of horizontally elongated cross section through which elongate objects are adapted to fall when substantially horizontal and disposed longitudinally with respect to the horizontal elongation of the passage, and a second passage communicating with the lower end of the first mentioned passage and. in-

clined downwardly in the opposite direction to the first mentioned passage to maintain the above mentioned position of objects delivered by the first mentioned passage.

3. A structure of the character described including, a chute having two substantially parallel passageways of horizontally elongated cross section and in spaced planes and through which elongated objects are gated cross section and in spaced inclined planes and through which elongated objects are ada ted to move by gravity when substantial y horizontal and disposed with their greatest lengths longitudinal with respect to the cross sectional shape of the passageways, and a downwardly inclined connecting passageway connecting the" first-mentioned passageways operable to pass the objects moving by gravity from one of the first-men- I and a lower tioned passageways to the other and to maintain the above-mentioned position of the objects, the connecting passageway belng at substantially right angles to the first-men tioned passageways.

'6. A structure of the character descrlbed including a chute having an upper passage of horizontally elongated cross section through which elongate objects are adapted to pass downwardly by gravity when dlsposed longitudinally with respect to the horizontal elongation of the passage, a connecting passage of the samecross sectional conguration as the upper passage, communicating with and inclined downwardly from the lower end of the upper passage to have a wall facing or opposing the lower end of the upper passage whereby said connectm passage is adapted to maintain the objects 1n the above mentioned position as they pass through the connecting passage by gravity, passage substantially parallel to the upper passage and communicating with the connecting passage to receive the objects from said connecting passage.

7. A structure of the character described including a chute having an upper passage of horizontally elongated cross section through which elongate objects are adapted to fall by gravity when disposed longitudinally with respect to the horizontal elongation of the passage, a comparatively short connecting passage of the same cross sectional configuration as the upper passage communicating with the lower end of the upper passage and inclined downwardly from the lower end of" the upper passage to have a wall facing or opposing the upper passage whereby said connecting passage is adapted-to maintain the objects in the above mentioned position as they pass through the connecting passage by gravity, and a discharge passage to receive the obj ects from the lower end of said connecting passage.

. aerosols 8. Astructure of the character described including a chute having an inclined upper passage of horizontally elongated cross section through which elongate objects are adapted to pass by gravity when disposed longitudinally with respect to the horizontal elongation of the passage, a connecting passage of the same cross sectional con guration as the upper passage, communicating with the lower end or the upper passage and inclined downwardly from the lower end of the upper passage to have a wall facing or opposing the upperf'passage whereby said connecting passage is adapted to maintain the ob ects in the above mentioned position tlonal elongation of the passages, and a connection assage connecting the adjacent ends of the rst mentioned passages of substantially the same cross sectional configuration as the firstmentioned passages and inclined downwardly in the opposite direction to the first mentioned passages, the connecting passage being operable to maintain the objects in the said longitudinal positions during their movement by gravity between the first mentioned passages, and a trap at the connecting passage to prevent upward flow through the passages.

In witness that I claim the foregoing l have hereunto subscribed my name.

HARRY l5. VICKJERS Kim 

